APPEARANCE SCHEDULE
The life of a presidential candidate is chaotic, busy, and draining. Just looking at Hillary’s schedule makes me feel tired, but she really wants to be president, so she’s going to do whatever she needs to be the first female leader of the United States. I will highlight some of her television appearances since her announcement to run for president. Overall, it appears that the late night shows allow her to show off a fun, youthful side. The hosts tend to stray from asking her controversial questions and instead recognize her ferocity and capability of leading the country, but also focus on her role as a caregiver. The more politically inclined programs (debates, The Rachel Maddow Show) test Clinton’s ability to answer tough questions and also allow her to address concerns of the public. Both types of these programs will be incredibly important in the election. Below is her schedule of campaign appearances.
http://hillaryspeeches.com/speech-archive/2015-2/
ELLEN
Hillary Clinton appeared on Ellen on September 10, 2015. Ellen Degeneres temporarily moved her show to the East Coast and took over Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. Ellen and Hillary discussed the power of women, touched on the history of woman’s rights in America, and talked about Hillary’s role as a grandmother. These conversation topics combined with Ellen’s clear support of Hillary created a positive image of the candidate. Clinton also learned how to “nae nae,” which showed that she is trying to keep in touch with America’s youth. Clinton spoke in front of a huge crowd and was joined by comedian Amy Schumer and pop star Pink. Given Ellen is a comedic talk show, the event was not surprisingly light-hearted and humorous. It seemed clear that Ellen is a fan of Clinton, which made this appearance seem like a victory tour rather than a fight for the Presidency.
Click HERE to read an NBC article discussing the event.
THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JIMMY FALLON
On September 16, 2015 Hillary appeared on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon. Clinton was surprisingly playful; she let Fallon touch her hair! She also gave advice about babies… which clearly played into her public persona as “doting grandma.” After making Hillary appear relatable, they did a “rapid fire’
Together they took part in a skit, where Fallon played Republican candidate Donald Trump. Throughout her interviews with late show hosts, Clinton has been handed the opportunity to make fun of the Republican nominees. Fallon even stated, “He is the best thing to happen to our show.” In other words, Trump and many of the other Republican candidates represent excellent, comedic material because they tend to say and do absurd things (think Trump’s pronunciation of “China“).
FIRST DEMOCRATIC DEBATE
On October 13, 2015 the five democratic candidates (Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Martin O’Malley, Jim Webb, and Lincoln Chafee) gathered in Las Vegas, Nevada to participate in the first primary Democratic debate. CNN hosted the debate, while Anderson Cooper played the role of moderator. Approximately 15 million Americans viewed the Tuesday night to watch the show down. Most news sites declared Hillary the front runner, however viewers who watched the debate declared Bernie Sanders the winner of the night (click HERE for the opinion poll.) Hillary appeared strong and confident; she held her own and was well prepared. Hillary used this debate as an opportunity to define herself on her own terms, in contrast to being defined by her opponents, the media, and Republicans. Sanders performed quite well. He stayed firm on his hatred of Wall Street and declared global warming to be the biggest threat to America. However, he did stumble while talking about his position on gun control, a hot topic in America right now. Martin O’Malley started off weak, but his performance improved as the debate went on. Jim Webb mostly talked about not getting enough time to answer questions, while Lincoln Chafee was almost invisible.
Hillary’s best quote of the night could arguable be:
I’m a progressive who likes to get things done.”
My personal favorite quote was Bernie Sanders discussing Hillary’s infamous email scandal:
The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails!”
The New York Times extensively covered the debate HERE.
Click HERE to watch the full democratic debate.
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW
Just one day after her eleven hour testimony, October 23, 2015, Hillary Clinton appeared on The Rachel Maddow Show to discuss politics, the election, and Joe Biden’s decision to stay out of the presidential race. Rachel Maddow’s show is not a late night, comedy-centric talk program. Instead, it constitutes a different vibe in that it revolves around mostly political issues. They talked about Bill Clinton’s legacy and his programs revolving civil rights, i.e. Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Clinton stated she did disagree with some of his legislation. She went on to stress that she will be a fighter for civil rights, i.e. women’s rights and planned parenthood. Clinton also shared kind words about President Obama, but also guaranteed that she will do a better job working with the Republican party. Unlike the hosts of the late night shows, Maddow asked tough questions and pushed Clinton to address controversial issues. These appearances are more showing of her political and debate capabilities, while the late night shows allow her to try and form an approachable, relatable, family-oriented persona that will hopefully appeal to the audience.
Click HERE to see the transcript of their conversation.
KATY PERRY
Katy Perry appeared with Hillary Clinton at a rally in Des Moines, Iowa on October 24, 2015. Perry arrived wearing a white dress with an American flag cape and a Hillary pin. She sang various songs, including “Roar,” a song that Hillary has chosen to feature in her campaign. In addition to coming to the rally, Perry took over Hillary’s Instagram for the day and posted photos including her Hillary-themed nail art and a “POTUS” necklace that Perry gifted to the Hillary.
Mashable wrote about the event stating the rally was held right before a fundraising dinner:
The dinner is a high-stakes showcase before more than 6,000 Iowa Democratic activists ahead of the Feb. 1 Democratic caucuses. In 2007, the dinner launched then-candidate Barack Obama to a surprise win in the Iowa caucuses. That year, Clinton came in third place, a showing her campaign is determined not to repeat.”
Having celebrity influencers, such as pop princess Katy Perry, are definitely positives when trying to reach a younger crowd. Perry helps Clinton seem more in tune and relevant with American youth. Plus Perry is known for her colorful, bubbly personality and appearance, which can help Hillary seem more lively, energetic, and fun.
Click HERE to read the Mashable article.
LATE NIGHT WITH STEPHEN COLBERT
On October 28, 2015 Hillary appeared on Late Night with Stephen Colbert. They talked about various topics such as Obama, taxes, parachute pants, and the Good Wife. Hillary appeared relatable and friendly (some reports say she was flirting with Stephan). She was able to crack some jokes and roll with the ones that said by Colbert, which made her seem fun and more personable. Though much of the interview was light-hearted, Hillary did make sure to discuss some of her major issues. She stated “the wealthy need to pay more” in regard to taxes and that she would let the banks fall if another banking crisis occurred.
My favorite part of the interview was when she responded to Colbert’s “If you become President…” and Hillary interrupted “YEEESSS.” She is clearly very eager to be declared POTUS. I also enjoyed her quote in the interview when discussing the political mess that Obama inherited: “I love when you have Republicans on here and they act like everyone has amnesia.”
Click HERE to view a clip of her interview.
JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE
Clinton appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live on November 5, 2015 in between a two day fundraising campaign in California. Kimmel asked Clinton what the nation would call her husband if she were elected president. She answered with a smile:
First dude. First mate. First gentleman. I am just not sure about it.”
She also claimed that if she ran against Bill, she would certainly win. The confidence she exudes is incredibly important in the election. Clinton is as qualified a candidate as any other, but her gender leads some people to question her ability to lead the nation. Therefore, the confidence she holds in her own abilities is key. Kimmel also talked to her about the Republican candidates, a major source of humor amongst the late night show hosts. Clinton has done an excellent job addressing the other candidates. She manages to take the candidates rather seriously and does not appear mean spirited. Yet, it is also clear that she recognizes the “reality tv star” (a.k.a. high drama) vibe of the Republican nominees.
Click HERE to watch clips of the interview.
SECOND DEMOCRATIC DEBATE
The three remaining Democratic presidential candidates gathered in Iowa on November 14, 2015 for the second Democratic Party Debate hosted by CBS. The debate opened with the three candidates bowing their heads in a moment of silence for the victims of the the terrorist attacks in Paris, which occurred only one day before the debate.
Sanders and O’Malley critiqued Clinton for her involvement in Middle Eastern policy. Sanders stated:
Let me have one area of disagreement with the secretary. I would argue that the disastrous invasion of Iraq — something that I strongly opposed — has unraveled the region completely and led to the rise of Al Qaeda and ISIS.”
While O’Malley discussed the state of the Middle East worsened under Clinton’s role as secretary of state. He declared:
Libya is now a mess. Syria is a mess. Iraq is a mess. Afghanistan is a mess.”
The attacks on Clinton turned somewhat personal when Sanders discussed her relationship with Wall Street:
Let’s not be naïve about it. Why over her political career has Wall Street been the major campaign contributor to Hillary Clinton? Now maybe they’re dumb and they don’t know what they’re going to get, but I don’t think so.”
Clinton took offense and attempted to explain her association with the finance industry. In a New York Times article, authors Amy Chozick and Jonathan Marin observed:
She seemed to link her contributions from the financial industry to the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, noting that she spent considerable time as a senator from New York working to rebuild Lower Manhattan, where many banks are — an argument that left some viewers perplexed.”
Overall, Clinton received sharper and greater attacks from O’Malley and Sanders. The next debate will take place on December 19 on ABC in New Hampshire. Click HERE for a link to the NYT article about the second debate.
CBS THIS MORNING
On December 1, 2015, Charlie Rose interviewed Hillary Clinton and began discussing a rather intense topic, ISIS. She stated she would not send any troops into the Middle East to combat ISIS. In order to defeat ISIS and Assad, she proposed working with the Russians, who have lost citizens to ISIS. She declared that she would tell Putin:
We’re going to put up a no fly zone… but we have to figure out how to keep more Syrians in Syria and frankly it is good for the fight against ISIS.”
She also discussed climate change and China’s new commitment to find new energy sources. Rose also asked why she wanted to be president. She stated it was not about history and becoming the first woman president. Instead, she stated:
I think this is going to be one of those watershed elections where we’ll either get the economy to work for everybody or we are going to see increasing inequality and unfairness that we haven’t seen in a way since the 1920s. We’re either going to figure out how to live together despite all of our differences, show respect for people… or we’re going to have a balanced shift dramatically against the kind of democracy that I believe in. That I think works best for America.”
Clinton was straight forward and candid with Rose. She knows her strengths and is incredibly prepared for tough conversations. She has learned from the first two democratic debates, and is using those learns in her more politically inclined television appearances, like The Rachel Maddow Show and CBS This Morning. Click HERE to watch clips from her interview with Charlie Rose.